Heritage Gardens Trust, 507 W. 7th Ave., Spokane, WA 99204

Castle Overlook:  Immediately southwest of the Corbin House sits a large basalt outcropping with a castle-like overlook point. The castle is the first major feature to be restored - see the Current News page for more information.  Said to be a favorite spot of D.C. Corbin, the north-facing overlook provides vistas of Spokane and surrounding hills and will be used as a central architectural feature illustrating the stone masonry of the late 1800’s.

Small Perennial Garden Area along Pathway to Bridge: The pathway consisted of an allée, a walkway lined with tall shrubs or plants. Lining the west and east side of the pathway was a small perennial area containing swordlike-plants or grass-like foliage. Original plants in the garden included lilacs, roses, and snow-in-summer. 

Natural Woodland Area Pathway: There are 2,200 lineal feet of dirt pathways, approximately 3½ to 4 feet in width on the Corbin property. The filled and repaired pathways will connect all of the garden features and provide access to the steep woodland hillside south of the developed garden areas.

Conservatory and Greenhouses:  Behind the conservatory were three greenhouses that followed the slope. The basalt rock foundations are still remaining and pieces of the small rock aggregate flooring in the conservatory can still be found. 

Reflection Pond and White Garden Steps:  There was a charming half-circle shaped pond which was bordered by iris and fernlike plants with candy-tuft planted along the rock wall at the back of the pond. A mask of Pan was affixed to the rock wall and spouted water into the pond. Leading from the pond on either side was a set of white garden stairs. 

Upper and Lower Perennial Gardens:  There were extensive plantings in the garden beds in the upper and lower perennial garden areas. Newspaper articles of the day reported that carloads of flowers, bushes, shrubbery, and trees were used in planting the gardens and grounds. Plantings came from Holland, England, France, and the Orient. More than $10,000 was spent for the development of the landscape in 1911.  There are black and white photographs of these areas, allowing us to identify many of the original plants, including: canna, daisies, catalpa, iris, ferns, iberis, dianthus, phlox, tulips, wisteria, downy hawthorn, sambucca, barberry and heuchera. 

Rose Garden and Sundial:  Below the perennial gardens a sundial was the central focal point of a lovely rose garden. 

Rustic Rose Arbor:  This beautiful rose arbor was wood, constructed with arched details and oriental detailing of the overhead structure. Old climbing roses trailed over the structure and three of the original rose vines are present but are not blooming currently. We will try to propagate vigorous rose vines from the original plants. None of the arbor remains today. We do have very good photos showing this structure that will aid us in the reconstruction.

Staircases on Either Side of the Rustic Rose Arbor:  The basalt rock staircases located on either side of the rustic rose arbor are still in place today and are in remarkably good condition. 

Upper Pond and Rock Waterfall:  The pond still exists and is approximately 70 feet long and 24 feet wide at the upper southwest corner of the Moore-Turner Gardens. Originally water was piped up through the existing basalt rock outcrop located at the northwest corner of the pond and created a waterfall over the rock into the pond. The pond also had a rock island placed towards the west end. A small log hut covered the pump at the east end of the pond that circulated the water back to the waterfall and helped oxygenate the pond water. The pond basin needs to be sealed and repaired, the plumbing system needs to be repaired with possible reconstruction, and the basalt rock band with the perennial plantings along the bank needs to be completed to restore the pond area.

Pergola:   The pergola was located adjacent to the upper pond on the south side. Portions of this beautiful rustic pergola still remain. The circular basalt columns are still located there; some are still standing and others have toppled over. The basalt columns are approximately eight feet tall at the lower level. The overall size of the structure was approximately 75 feet long and 15 feet wide. The overhead structure had similar detailing as the lower rose arbor. Wisteria vines were planted at the base of the columns and grew over the structure.

Octagon Teahouse with White Columns:   This was a small teahouse that provided a sitting area in the upper natural woodland garden area. There were eight round white columns sitting on square bases that supported a low, cone-shaped, wood shingled roof structure. The columns were approximately eight feet tall, and the sides were open. The teahouse was approximately 14 feet in diameter. We are not sure if there was any flooring material in the teahouse or if it had a dirt floor. The column footings remain today.

Stairways in Garden and Natural Woodland Areas:   There are numerous stairways throughout the garden and natural woodland areas that need to be reconstructed. Some are still intact; others are nonexistent but were depicted in earlier garden plans. All of them were made of basalt rock.